In this article, we look at quashing of chargesheet in exercise of powers by High Court under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973, in a case where FIR has been registered disclosing an offence under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.
The landmark case to address this concern is the case of State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Laxmi Narayan.
The Supreme Court laid down various observations in accordance with which powers under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code 1973 have to be exercised by High Court vis-à-vis Section 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The observation pertinent to this article is as follows:
“It would be open to the High Court to examine as to whether incorporation of Section 307 IPC is there for the sake of it or the prosecution has collected sufficient evidence, which if proved, would lead to framing the charge under Section 307 IPC. For this purpose, it would be open to the High Court to go by the nature of injury sustained, whether such injury is inflicted on the vital/delegate parts of the body, nature of weapons used etc. However, such an exercise by the High Court would be permissible only after the evidence is collected after investigation and the charge sheet is filed/charge is framed and/or during the trial. Such exercise is not permissible when the matter is still under investigation.”
State of Madhya Pradesh v. Laxmi Narayan and others, Criminal Appeal no. 349 of 2019
Thus, from the law laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court, it is clear that in case the chargesheet is submitted under Section 307 IPC by the Police after investigation and the said chargesheet is challenged before the High Court under Section 482 CrPC on the ground that the parties have compromised the matter, and on this ground, the chargesheet may be quashed.
The Hon’ble High Court may proceed to quash the chargesheet but before quashing the chargesheet, the Hon’ble High Court shall examine the nature of injuries sustained by the injured, the weapon used, and the role assigned to the accused persons among other factors. In case, the injuries are on the non-vital part of the body and a deadly weapon is not used, then the Hon’ble High Court may quash the chargesheet on the ground that the parties have entered into a compromise.
Further, the Hon’ble High Court may also take into consideration the duration of pendency of the matter before the trial court. In case of inordinate delay in concluding the trial by the Sessions Court, and the trial is still at the nascent stage after a long time, it will be violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the Hon’ble High Court may quash the proceeding on this ground alone.